Sodus Point Harbor
Review and History

Sodus Point Harbor lies on the southern shores of Lake Ontario in New York State. Sodus Point Harbor is about 25 nautical miles (44 kilometers or 27 miles) southwest of the Port of Oswego and almost 30 nautical miles (51 kilometers or 32 miles) east of the Port of Rochester. Sodus Point Harbor is part of the Great Lakes - St. Lawrence Seaway waterway.

Port History

Sodus Point Harbor was home to the Onondaga people before Europeans came to settle the area. One of the original five nations making up the Iroquois Confederacy, their territory was the center of the Confederacy from its birth with the solar eclipse of 1142AD.

The Onondaga were neutral during the early American Revolution, but when the Americans attacked their main village in 1779, the people allied with the British. When the infant United States was born, many Onondaga moved to Ontario in Canada. The people lost almost all of their lands to the State of New York in the last decade of the 17th Century.

Today, the Onondaga Nation occupies about 7300 acres south of Syracuse, New York. They are ruled by traditional chiefs who are chosen by clan mothers, and they maintain their traditional culture. Onondaga is still the capital for the Grand Council of Chiefs of the Iroquois Confederacy.

The Village of Sodus Point Harbor was first settled in 1794. During the War of 1812, a British raiding party burned Sodus Point Harbor, leaving only one building standing. Sodus Point Harbor residents rebuilt the village.

In the 19th Century, Sodus Point Harbor became an important Lake Ontario port. Coal from Pennsylvania traveled by rail to be exported from Sodus Point Harbor. There were plans to connect Sodus Point Harbor to the Erie Canal in the early 19th Century, but the plan was too expensive and was abandoned. After the Erie Canal began operating in 1825, Sodus Point Harbor's status as a port began to decline.

The Village of Sodus Point Harbor was incorporated in 1958. Since the turn of the 20th Century, it has been a popular vacation spot for people from Chicago and other cities in the region.

Review and History    Port Commerce    Cruising and Travel    Satellite Map    Contact Information